Postal voting, which fluctuated between just under 3% and 4% in the last two parliamentary elections, is being put to the test more than ever before in the elections on July 23. On the one hand, the elections will take place on a bridge that will most likely be hot in the middle of summer. In addition, the PP has for days suspected that the listed company Correos is not doing well. And recent cases of alleged vote-buying in Melilla or Mojácar, ultimately involving officials from different parties, have raised concerns. Correos denies that there are problems with queues or crowding in his offices as a “hoax” but admits, without giving further details, that there is a major influx of absentee ballot requests. Company sources also claim that the device is ready to add staff and hours to avoid incidents. The unions, for their part, are demanding more staff.
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who was post-president of José María Aznar’s government for three years between 2000 and 2003, has been complaining for days about Pedro Sánchez’s extraordinary and early call for parliamentary elections on 23-J. And that’s despite months of demanding electoral preference, believing this government’s cycle was over, even before the poor results for the current executive branch in the 28-M local elections. Feijóo and the PP are now wondering if the polling stations will open in mid-summer during the Santiago Bridge. In Feijóo’s PP, they are aware that in this case many voters could choose to vote by mail, and they do not trust that the current leadership of this public enterprise, chaired by Juan Manuel Serrano, the former Chief of Staff of Sánchez’ PSOE is doing everything possible to facilitate such operations in these particular circumstances. During an interview with Onda Cero this Tuesday, Feijóo again insisted on questioning the management of this company – she always tries to save the postmen – and demanded that she must exercise extreme caution in the face of this electoral tool. He also called for a campaign to encourage this type of voting and for his office hours to be extended, including some afternoons and even weekends.
The director and head of external communications at Correos, Juanjo Castillo, points out that the company has already taken into account all these warnings and has launched a campaign on radio and social networks to promote postal voting. The company expects to formalize up to 5,500 fixed-term contracts in July to cover 100% of employees’ vacation time, and this month will maintain normal working hours in its 2,389 offices across Spain, as well as exclusive windows to manage them Procedures allow at venues where deemed necessary. Correos indicates that it will also promote the use of the prior appointment system already working in 503 of its offices and that, if it deems it necessary, “it will activate the shift supervisor’s option for postal voting to enable the to prioritize or channel attention”. it on specific positions to speed up attention and shorten waiting times in the offices during the election period”.
In Correos, they respond to the evidence of the heat that is likely to prevail during this election campaign, that their officials and postmen are already working every July, regardless of whether elections are held or not, and that they are taking exceptional measures on this occasion, if necessary This will also apply in terms of security if the Central Electoral Board in its meeting this Thursday finally certifies the obligation to present the DNI in this type of voting, as is now required when requesting documents and as is also the case was 28-M for the elections in the Autonomous City of Melilla.
The company’s leadership acknowledges that they generally welcomed “a larger influx” to their headquarters during the week already enacted, in which they could request documentation of voting by mail, but also don’t say to what extent Demand for voting is made by mail The mail has increased or the presence in their offices has increased. Of course, they reject the fact that there are regular crowds or queues. Correos therefore confirms that it will not provide any official voting data via email until the July 19 deadline for processing these requests. The deadline for obtaining certification for this type of vote is J13. Voting can also be requested online using an electronic ID card or the Treasury Department’s self-signature application.
The unions used this election call to call for an increase in their workforce, recalling that there have been 7,000 job cuts in recent years. However, the federal head of the CC OO, Regino Martín Barco, did not want to make fun of the reliability of a working system and urged politicians not to be “irresponsible” or create uncertainty. Postal unions estimate the shortage of postmen at around 4,500. They also criticize the company’s debt, which they estimate at 750 million, and are waiting for the personnel increase to come on time now and not like in the last election in May, when a reinforcement of 2,500 soldiers was announced but ultimately did not appear. Correos argues that even without this increase, it has been shown that the service has been provided without setbacks.
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